Chase Briscoe at 8:40 pm ET Monday, July 25, 2016
Photo – ARS
Chase Briscoe is our guest on Fan4Racing NASCAR & Race Talk, Monday, July 25, 2016 at 8:40 pm ET. Call 929-477-1790 or tweet @Fan4RacingSite or @Sal_Sigala with any questions or comments during our LIVE broadcast.
A Different Perspective on Three Wins in a Row
One year ago, Chase Briscoe made his ARCA Racing Series debut for Cunningham Motorsports at Lucas Oil Raceway (LOR), running for a third team for the organization. In that race, Briscoe earned his first top-ten finish of tenth. 363 days later, he dominated the last 130 laps of the 200 lap Sioux Chief PowerPEX 200 at the track….taking his third consecutive checkered flag.
In addition to his three wins (Winchester Speedway, Iowa Speedway and Lucas Oil Raceway) during that twelve month period, Briscoe has earned five Menards Pole Qualifying awards. In 14 ARCA Series starts, Briscoe has earned nine top-five finishes and 13 top-ten finishes. All of the current season stats have put Briscoe at the top of the championship points battle for most of the season. He currently has an unofficial 265 point lead and leads most of the ARCA Series special award categories.
Briscoe and his Chad Bryant-led team had tested at the .686-mile Brownsburg, Indiana, track last week in preparation for the race. Knowing that the track temperatures would change drastically by race time, which was scheduled for 9:00 pm EST, the crew made numerous changes during the two practice sessions…to improve the handling of the car. In the heat of the day, Briscoe qualified seventh.
When the green flag dropped, Briscoe moved toward the front….taking third by lap 17. After cautiously saving his Big Tine No. 77 Ford through the first 69 laps, Briscoe’s Penske Racing’s development pit crew gave him a lightning quick pit stop for right side General Tires and fuel that moved him to the lead. Briscoe held the point through the remaining laps, including a four tire stop with the same quick results from the pit crew. As the laps wound down with Briscoe continuing to increase his lead over second place, Bryant continued to remind Briscoe to back off to save his tires…in case the race was extended. After one of those reminders, Briscoe told his crew chief,
“I feel like I am poking along,”
…as he continued to pad his lead. Briscoe received his third checkered flag, almost ten seconds ahead of the second place finisher.
Sitting on the pit wall after all of the victory lane festivities had concluded, a reflective three-in-a-row winner,
Briscoe said, “I am so incredibly blessed. To think how this all began…..after the race last year here (at LOR), I didn’t figure that Briggs (Cunningham) and Kerry (Scherer) would ever give me another chance. And here I am, this year, in their No. 77…leading the points with three victories and five poles! Let’s head on to Pocono and see if we can make it four-in-a-row.”
Briscoe and his team will try to make it four straight wins when the team tackles the “Tricky Triangle”, for the second time this season, next week on Friday, July 29. The lone practice is scheduled for 9:30-10:55 EST, followed by Menards Pole Qualifying at 2:00. The ModSpace 150 at Pocono Raceway will take the green flag 5:30, with live coverage on Fox Sports 1.
Earlier in the season, before Chase’s first win, co-owner Kerry Scherer had told Briscoe’s legendary grandfather, Richard Briscoe that he thought Chase was going to win four-in-a-row. Only Pocono Raceway will determine if Scherer’s prediction comes true. The last time that the Cunningham organization grabbed four consecutive wins was in 2009, when current NASCAR driver, Parker Kligerman drove the No. 77 for the team.